The present invention relates to a game comprising an auxiliary game and its playing method.
In recent years, numerous strategies have been used to maintain the player""s interest and to provide excitement throughout his play experience. One of these strategies is to add an auxiliary game which outcome is influenced by the outcome of the primary game, whether the auxiliary game is a progressive jackpot, a bonus round, or a totally different secondary game.
The addition of a progressive jackpot is really popular since it is generally displayed for patrons to see on special display means over the banks of participating machines. Generally, these progressive jackpots are really generous and motivate the player by their life-changing nature. However, the chances of winning one of these jackpots are slim and shared by all players using the machines participating in the progressive jackpot. By their nature, these jackpots are often more attractive to occasional players than to local and frequent players.
There are many different types of bonus rounds associated with line games. However, most of them can be divided in two classes: instant and accumulation bonuses. The instant bonuses are the most common; they are triggered by the occurrence of a predetermined outcome, and they do not last beyond the current play. The instant bonuses can award an instant prize or multiply the primary game prize. They can also present themselves as a second-screen game wherein the player chooses at least one of several indicia, or wherein an indicator such as a wheel determines or reveals the value of the bonus prize. These prizes can be predetermined or accumulated; they can also consist in a predetermined number of free spins, during which the primary pay table or a special bonus pay table applies. As soon as the bonus round is over, the player gets back to the primary game. The previous bonus has no influence on the chances of triggering another bonus round in the future. Unfortunately, the excitement of the player does not last long. Furthermore, this kind of bonuses can frustrate players if they feel those bonuses slow the game and award too many small prizes.
Bonuses of the second class, the accumulation bonuses, are triggered by the accumulation of a predetermined indicium or group of indicia over the course of a number of spins or plays. When the predetermined indicium is displayed in the primary game, it is cumulated. When the player has gathered the predetermined number of indicia, he is awarded a bonus prize. A prize can also be awarded when a predetermined triggering event occurs; the value of this bonus prize is determined according to the number of indicia gathered, randomly or using a pay table. This kind of bonuses is more interesting than the instant one since the excitement of triggering the bonus lasts over many plays, but the player is often unaware of the indicia accumulation or the trigger-event occurrence. Thus, the player does not always know when he has a real chance of triggering the bonus round and winning a big prize.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,430 describes a bonus in which at least one symbol is tracked and gathered. However, in this case, an occurrence can expire after a predetermined length of time or a number of spins. When an occurrence expires, the count decreases by one. A prize is won when the game system recognizes that the count equals or exceeds the required number to win. After a win, said required number is subtracted from the count, or the latter is reset to zero (0). In this game, all outcomes have an influence on the proportion of outcomes that are monitored and thus on the occurrence of a bonus payout. Nevertheless, each outcome can only be used once to award a bonus.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,057 describes another type of auxiliary games: a primary game coupled with a secondary game. The nature and rules of this secondary game can be totally different from those of the primary game. In this patent, a bingo-matrix display (the secondary game) is coupled to a poker game (the primary game). The occurrence of certain predetermined events in the poker game induces a modification of the bingo matrix display. The rules of standard bingo apply to this bingo-matrix, and the player can win a prize whenever a winning pattern is completed. Since not all poker hands have an influence on the chances of winning in the auxiliary game, plays do not all have the same importance. Moreover, since the bingo matrix is never reset to zero (0), the player knows he only has to play long enough to win an auxiliary prize. No event has a negative influence on his chances; there is no xe2x80x9cnear-missxe2x80x9d effect.
In conclusion, there have been no successful strategies to maintain the interest of players throughout their participation in primary games while giving them a feeling that each spin or play is important and can offer them more than one chance of winning a bonus prize.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of playing an auxiliary game with a primary game, a method that maintains the interest of players and improves their pleasure of participating in the primary game.
A second object of the invention is to make each primary game round an important one.
A third object of the invention is to allow a game round to contribute to more than one bonus-trigger events.
A further object of the invention is to display information regarding the credits obtained in a predetermined number of events so that players can evaluate their chances of winning an auxiliary-game prize. This display also sustains the thrill throughout the game so the players will continue to play and to generate profits for the apparatus owners.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary-game progressive payoff to maintain the interest of the player.
A further object of the invention is to maintain the thrill by letting players gather the number of credits needed to win prizes in a number of games greater than the number of outcomes influencing results in the auxiliary game. A player""s chances of winning an auxiliary-game prize are therefore increased.
A final object of the invention is to allow a plurality of machines or tables linked via a network or other communication means to the same auxiliary game device, to share the same monitoring and display means and thus participate in the same auxiliary game, even if they offer different games to the players.
According to the objects of the invention, a method of awarding a prize in an auxiliary game played along with a primary game is provided. The method comprises steps such as establishing a first class of outcomes in the primary game associated with credit events in the auxiliary game, a second class of outcomes associated with no-credit events in the auxiliary game, a third class of outcomes associated with non-event holds in the auxiliary game and in some instances, a fourth class of outcomes associated with tradable events; monitoring credits in the auxiliary game over a predetermined number of events; and awarding a prize when a predetermined number or configuration of credits are present in this predetermined number of events in the auxiliary game, whereby avoiding no-credit events within a series of non-event holds and credit events increases a player""s chances of winning an auxiliary-game prize.
A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises an electronic gaming apparatus wherein a primary game is linked to an auxiliary game that works according to the method defined above. A display of the information monitored by the auxiliary game should be placed above the display of the primary game and should be easily understandable by an untrained player. The primary game comprises an instant game wherein certain predetermined events produce credit events or trigger the credit selector, losing outcomes produce no-credit events, and all the other outcomes are non-event holds or tradable events.